David and Suzie Stadnyk weren’t known for using drugs. But, when they turned 59, the couple decided to try it.
“We wanted to be more spiritual,” said Suzie.
They both work in venture capital, and divide their time between Vancouver and Central Park South. So they began dabbling with psychedelics. They headed to the high-end Costa Rican retreat Rythmia for a week of organic food and massage, plus a “liberation dance” and four nights taking the hallucinogenic drug ayahuasca under medical supervision.
David downed three shots of a molasses rich intoxicating ayahuasca beer the first night. He then went into a tailspin.
“I was trying to fend off angular visions coming at me, which wasn’t a lot of fun,” he told The Post. He took a smaller amount the next night and had an excellent trip.
“That was the best night of my life,” he said. “I met the soul I lost as a child and we had a conversation, and I’m really not like that. There were shaman dogs there and one came over, stuck out this very long tongue and said, ‘You are OK, you know’ … It was a wonderful, beautiful experience. I was floating and thought, ‘If I need to die it should be now because I don’t think I could feel any better.’”
The Stadnyks returned to Rythmia a number of times over the past 12 months; Suzie even went with their 25-year old daughter.
“It’s the best environment to try [ayahuasca],” gushed Suzie. “It’s like a five-star resort and they force you to trust them. You go there so you don’t do it on your friend’s couch and freak out.”
Psychedelics used to be the domain of Timothy Leary acolytes. But, they are now mainstream and upscale. Wealthy New Yorkers are now traveling to South America and Central America to enjoy luxe ayahuasca experiences. They also travel to see psychiatrists who use Ketamine, the only legal psychedelic in New York. (Psilocybin mushroom use is legal in California and Oregon under medical supervision. It is also decriminalized in many other parts of the US.
Last month in St. Tropez, the mental health nonprofit called Aurora Institute, co-founded by German billionaire Christian Angermayer, hosted a star-studded “evening of discovery” looking at the science behind psychedelics with Queen Latifah, Cameron Winklevoss and Robbie Williams in attendance. Actress and comedian Ali Wong has written openly about regularly doing shrooms and ayahuasca with her husband, while Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers recently credited “magic mushrooms” and ayahuasca for providing him with the mental clarity it took to score a $200 million contract extension. The powerful and wealthy are known to be totally tripping.
“I’m at Gucci buying clothes right now. I wear Chanel and I am not a liberation dance type hippie person,” said Suzie. “Friends find it surprising that I would do this, but I fell in love with it.”
A 42-year old tech professional spoke out about being influenced by mushrooms by a woman he met at an entrepreneurial retreat. “We started dating and she said ‘I think we could have a nice time doing this together,’” said the man, who lives in the Flatiron. Although initially he was hesitant, he now feels that the psychedelics have been a tremendously powerful tool.
“I was always very anti-drug and my brain is my moneymaker so I didn’t want to mess with it,” he said. “I am an engineer — so far from a woo-woo person — but things became clear when I took it and the dots just connected.” He also abandoned traditional therapy, replacing it with mushroom journeys assisted by a therapist.
“This has become one of the biggest underground movements,” he said. “I know therapists now who won’t see you if you won’t do psychedelics.”
Dr. Lea Lis, psychiatrist, opened Hamptons Insight Center in July. She treats patients with ketamine.
“Traditional psychotropics like Prozac or Zoloft weren’t healing patients; they can be a Band Aid, but psychedelics have offered the new frontier of mental health,” she said. “A lot of people are doing them recreationally illegally, but this is all legal.”
Her swank new clinic has soundproofed rooms, so patients — a combination of Hamptons locals and the summer mix of finance, professionals, and entertainment types — can cry and scream without creating a disturbance. “I walk them through a beautiful experience of letting go of trauma they have held onto for years,” Lis said. “Psychedelics have hit the zeitgeist and this is their cultural moment.”
Some shrinks may not be completely on board with this new wave. Dr. Jane Caplan of Phoenix, a psychiatrist who is trained in ketamine abuse, has reservations. “They do have potential for misuse. “They can be misused. We are rewiring our brain. My hope is that they can help us resolve some issues. However, my greatest concern is that people will misuse another drug. This class of drugs is the most psychoactive. We have seen people who have trauma that’s gotten worse, and when people take them in a party situation — especially under the age of 25 when frontal lobes have not wired to rest of brain — you are potentially rewiring foundational aspects of the brain. What is referred to as the ‘k hole’ is a very dark place you can fall into and can’t necessarily climb your way out of. People can hit a place where their defenses are down and it’s a place their psyches have been protecting them from.”
“I am an engineer — so far from a woo-woo person — but things became clear when I took it and the dots just connected.”
42-year-old anonymous tech worker, Manhattan
But many aren’t worried about potential side effects. A New York City publicist in the lifestyle realm said, “A lot of the women I know are taking psychedelics because alcohol has too many calories.”
A 44-year-old editor went on a July Fourth date with a 50-year-old finance executive who lived in a stunning home on the ocean. She was surprised, but not off put, when he turned to her, stared into her eyes and asked, “Have you ever done mushrooms?”
She was thrilled by the idea. “It was an adventure,” said the Upper East Sider. “It’s something he does regularly and I had never done it. Everyone raves about it. It felt different than if I had been drinking; kind of like pot without the paranoia.”
The experience of watching fireworks on the beaches was enhanced. “It was fun; kind of like half a gummy with a Xanax,” said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous and noted she steers clear of harder drugs. “It’s just mushrooms, and it’s the designer thing to do these days.”
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